An Icy Vessel
by Tsukiko-Cifer
Summary: What if Edward and Alphonse didn't get to Briggs as quickly as they should have, and left the soldiers and their Major General to deal with Sloth on their own? And what if Sloth's invasion wasn't an accident, but rather, he was there looking for a certain woman that his Father needed?
1. Chapter 1

It was just one thing after another. Didn't she ever get a break? Between those damn Drachmans and this new hulking brute that had appeared within her impenetrable fortress, everyone in Briggs was on edge. Everyone but Olivier Mira Armstrong, the infamous Ice Queen. She, on the other hand, was down right pissed off. She had understood what it meant to be guarding one of their great country's borders, but god-damn it all! Did those Drachmans really have to keep attacking? And what was that monster she and her men had managed to incapacitate just a few hours ago?

She was currently heading to the tunnel entrance from which that brute had erupted, hoping to find some sort of evidence that would tell her just what she was dealing with. She'd witnessed first hand that thing's strength, and she had a feeling that even that flash freezing it had just gone through wouldn't hold forever.

She arrived at the blocked off zone and headed straight to where a small search team was waiting with horses and light sources for her. It wasn't normal for her to partake in these sorts of things, but Olivier's curiosity had been captured after seeing the monster's brutal strength. And if it was working for the Drachman army, then it was her duty to find its source, weakness, and then work on destroying it all together. There were already too many foolish wars going on in the country, she couldn't afford to have another one starting in her territory.

"Sir, we've got everything ready to go!" said a soldier who offered her the reigns to a large black stallion. She immediately got on, and motioned for the rest of the men to follow her down. One by one, they made their way down, the laterns gently lighting the walls around them. Shadows danced mockingly as they continued down this seemingly never-ending tunnel, and even the horses were on edge then.

Finally, Olivier ordered a dismount. It was as if they'd been walking for a lifetime, not that she was complaining, but something definitely wasn't right about this tunnel. Why was it here, under her fortress, and why was it so long? She had a feeling that it continued down for quite a while, and that continuing down might be a waste. So instead, she would start trying to figure out not only what the purpose of this tunnel was, but how in the hell something this extensive was going on right under her nose without even the slightest hint to her.

"Miles!" she barked, and the Ishvalan showed up at her side almost immediately. She pulled down blanket from her horse, and laid it neatly on the ground before sitting down. Her hand on her chin, she sat deep in thought. How would it have been possible for this to have happened without any detection? As far as she could tell, there wasn't any sort of mining equipment either, which meant that monster had been digging himself. So for how long, and what was its purpose?

"Miles, what do you make of this?" she asked.

"Well, sir, I can't really say. There's nothing here out of the ordinary, no rooms to be housing enemies in underground, no places for weapons to be stored. And it's much to deep for it to be used for explosives. We might be able to feel a slight tremor if someone were to plant explosives at this level, so it's unlikely this is meant for any sort of warfare." Miles explained calmly. He too was just as stumped as to what this was as his commander. And to see her not completely sure of any situation was unnerving. She wasn't freaking out of course, but she was always in control of things, always finding out what was going on no matter how much digging she had to do. "I probably end up doing more digging that than brute ever did…" he said quietly to himself.

_And digging will get you in a lot of trouble..._ Said a low, childlike whisper from out of nowhere.

Miles whipped around, ready to attack, but found himself facing darkness, and nothing more. Olivier looked up questioningly, but he just shook his head, confused. Perhaps all of the extra hours spent training himself more throughout the nights were wearing him down. He made a mental note to try and get a little more sleep, and then turned back to where his commanding officer sat.

_You'd better make sure you don't make us believe you're a threat too..._ Said that same eery voice again.

Miles was sure of it, there was something around them. But all he could see were the other soldiers in front of him, and behind him was pure darkness.

Before any of them had time to react, Olivier let out a shocked shout as a black wispy tendril snared her ankle and began to quickly drag her into the gaping darkness. Her hand immediately went to her saber, but yet another tendril came out and went for her arm. She drew her saber at the last moment possible, and managed to parry the attack.

Miles had already begun to react, firing at whatever was dragging Olivier away, but his bullets seemed to go through the entity...

The rest of her men recovered a couple seconds later, and started to charge. Immediately more tendrils came out of the darkness, stabbing many of them through the chest, while some managed to hit the ground and avoid the attack.

While they were busy defending their lives, Olivier had been dragged into the darkness completely, and was busy trying her best to parry the onslaught of attacks. Finally one managed to knock her saber from her steel grip, and it clattered to the ground.

"Shit!" she said as she felt something that she assumed was the attacker's weapon pressed up against her throat. Again that tug was felt on her ankle, and the last thing she remembered was Miles shouting orders to her men...


	2. Chapter 2

Father, do you really plan on making this one into one of us?" said a child-like voice.

"Yes, she's the perfect vessel; strong and demanding. She will be my Lust," said an older voice.

Olivier began to awaken as they spoke, and could soon see around her. She was in some sort of cold, underground place. The walls had various pipes and wires all around, making up the structures. And in front of her was a grand throne made out of the same pipe material, with an older man sitting there, just staring at her.

She immediately lunged out, but found herself bound to an old chair, and barely managed to correct herself from falling flat on her face. "Damn it you bastard, who are you?" she yelled, whipping her hair out of her face.

The man just sat there, an eye brow raised as if he was amused by her rage. This only served to fuel the fire, and she continued hurling out insults.

Finally, it was as if he had grown tired of it all, and with a wave of his hand, a small boy showed up beside him. "Selim Bradley?" she asked, confused.

"No, but you will learn more about each other later on, Olivier. Because right now, I have grown tired of your crude remarks." said the older man. He nodded to Selim, and the young boy vanished into the shadows, leaving a horrible, depressing feeling in his place.

At first, she was tempted to continue barking insults and demands, but she noticed something. The man had called her by her first name, which not only was bold, but unnerving. She'd never once in her life seen a man around her at any point in time, and yet he spoke to her as if he knew her on a personal level, which most people didn't. This wasn't just a cocky attitude, no, it was simple dominance. He was sure of himself, and wasn't going to allow anyone to say otherwise. And for some reason, Olivier had a feeling that he could easily defend the claim if he had to.

The older man approached Olivier, and put two fingers to his forehead gently. Much to her disgust, a small eye opened up, and began to leak a bright crimson fluid which he pooled into his hand. It remained there, glistening, until he tilted his hand up, while quickly making a small cut on her shoulder.

She thrashed about, trying to land a kick, but he paid no attention and quickly tilted his hand over the cut. The liquid landed on the cut, and within seconds was absorbed.

At that point, he let go of her, and Olivier felt the restraints around her disappear. She fell to the floor, and immediately lunged at him. However, she barely made it to him before her body stopped responding. Then, all at once, a completely unrealistic pain surged through her body, starting at her shoulder and radiating all over. She started to thrash around, her body twisting and bending at inhuman angles as her involuntary screams echoed throughout the room.

And yet, seconds later, despite the pain she still felt raging through her body, it was almost as if her body itself began to tire of its spasmodic movements, and the thrashing slowly stopped. Her surroundings blurred, and as the blurs began to swirl and move, she found her eyes slipping shut, despite her will to stay conscious.

Soon after, Olivier found herself in a medium sized room, sitting on a couch. Her body still hurt, but it was easily bearable. She moved her head, looking around and trying to figure out where she was, and what had just happened.

The windows were dark, as were the carpeted floors and eerily painted walls. Dim white lights hung from the ceiling, and there was a bed and dresser to her left.

Out of nowhere came a door, and through it stepped a tall woman with a revealing dress on. Her raven black hair cascaded down her back, and she had an unnerving sort of smirk on her face.

Now that Olivier was not immobilized by pain, she leapt at the woman, but was surprised as she passed right through.

"Are you supposed to be my new body?" the woman asked, an eyebrow raised. She walked around Olivier, surveying her.

"I suppose this is enough to work with... Though I must admit, I preferred my original vessel. It was much more... Attractive."

"Hah! Unless you're trying to appeal to someone, then attractiveness will do nothing for you! Power is what will get you places." Olivier said as she regained her balance after passing through the woman again.

There wasn't much that annoyed her like the way a woman could act when she wanted something but didn't want to work for it. She'd worked her ass off to get into the military, and then to continue rising up until she was a force to be feared. And never once did such a vile, degrading thought as how to quicken her promotions through a sexual deal slip into her mind.

She'd always hated weak women who relied on their attractiveness to get them a rich suitor. Then they'd settle down, have children, and waste away at home, catering to their husband's every need. It was pathetic. They needed to know how to stand on their own two feet, how to make a name for themselves that wasn't based on how much money their husbands had.

Though she did have to admit that everything about this woman standing before her was beautiful. What was with her? She was perfect in every sense, beyond human imperfections. The first thing she noticed was that she had similar markings as that brute who had invaded the day before had on his arms and forehead, only hers were on her hands and arms in the form of gloves. The one detail that really caught her attention though was the odd tattoo on her collar bone.

"Who are you?" Olivier said, demanding an answer.

"Oh, me?" the woman asked in a sly tone. "I'm Lust, the one who will own your body from now on."


	3. Chapter 3

At first, she really wasn't sure how to respond. Honestly, Olivier had heard a lot of weird things, and they'd come from weird people. And this woman, Lust, certainly fit into that category. What made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, however, was the way Lust had said it. It wasn't crazy, slurred speech, or an empty threat of sorts from someone who bluffed their way through life. It was a simple, yet dominant statement.

"Well, this is a tad bit awkward..." Lust said, walking toward the couch and quickly draping herself over it. With slightly sharpened nails resting on her cheek, she looked at Olivier. "I've never had a host who didn't have some sort of emotion on their face, be it fear, excitement, or simple confusion. You, on the other hand, are completely devoid of any sort of emotion right now..." She trailed off, still staring at Olivier with a sort of morbid interest.

Meanwhile, Olivier had finally figured out at least something to say in return, despite the confusion that still surrounded this whole event. Had she been talking with Miles just a few minutes ago? And now, she found herself in a blacked out room with a woman that claimed to be in control of her?

"I'm sorry to say that it's not the least bit awkward for me." She maintained that emotionless look, and paced back and forth shortly as she continued. "And I'd certainly appreciate it if you would stop staring at me as if you're some child that's found a new toy to play with. I'm no one's toy, pawn, or 'host', whatever that may mean to you. It's those around me that become the pawns in _my_ plan." she said adamantly.

Lust just looked at her for a moment longer before swinging her feet to the floor. This woman certainly wasn't getting it. It didn't matter how much control or power she might have had moments before. The minute that her crimson liquid entered the blonde's body, she lost it all. And now, it was only a matter of explaining that.

However, talking about what had just happened was simply too boring. Lust wasn't one to be flashy, despite her beauty, but just sitting around and talking wasn't her style either. Especially not when she had a stubborn woman like this to toy around with.

She got up quickly, and stood right beside Olivier in a mere second. "You might control how the room appears, and what you can or can't see from here, but that's about the only thing you'll control from now own." Lust said. "And even then, I still have control here as well."

The raven haired beauty quietly snapped her fingers, and the void windows seemed to brighten slowly, and the view began to show. It was blurred at first, but it gradually returned to a normal scene. At least, as normal as someone could get when they seemed to be staring at themselves through a window.

Olivier saw herself standing in front of a mirror, and immediately she swung out, intending to bash the thing to pieces. Instead, she found that her body didn't seem to respond in the least bit. However, she looked at Lust, and when the other woman put on that confident, seductive smile, her body did the same thing. As if to show that this wasn't some sort of fluke, she raised her hand and brushed down her hair, and Olivier's body did the same motions.

It was horrible, standing there, watching yourself while someone else was controlling you from the inside. The loss of control, the loss of dominance. It was worse than fear, it was worse than sorrow, it was worse than pain to the infamous Ice Queen. And yet she still struggled to keep her composure. She would find some way out of this, regardless of what it took. For the time being, she had to make sure that this Lust couldn't use her body for the wrong purposes. Things were being stirred up, and already she knew that Central was having problems. For her to be fighting against them would be disastrous.

"And you know, I think you'll make a fine host. You're pretty crude on the outside, but that's from years of neglect toward your appearance. I can easily fix all of that with a little bit of work." Lust said with a smirk on her face. She had big plans for this woman. She'd have to fix her up of course, which despite what she had just said, probably wouldn't be as easy as she made it sound, and then she could-

All at once, a pain started in her head, and Lust fell to her knees. By then, Olivier knew that attacking was futile, even at a time where she was vulnerable, so she simply stood by and watched as Lust hissed and screamed with pain, mumbling things about different people.

_Who are they? Who are these people?_ Lust thought as a new wave of images hit her.

A shorter human, as she couldn't really tell what it was classified as in terms of gender, with a cocky smile on its face. A confident tall man with spiked black hair and sunglasses. A large monster of sorts with drool dribbling down his chin. An even younger boy who looked to innocent to be real. An older man with a casual eye patch and emotionless face who looked the most human of all of these unknown people. And a humongous beast with bulging muscles and empty black eyes.

The most painful of all was a flashing image of a blonde man in white robes, leaning over her.

"Father!" she gasped, panting.

But who were those others? Those were the images that lingered the longest, but there had been others; soldiers, a boy with a metal arm and leg along with a suit of armor. A woman who could fire with deadly accuracy. And a man who snapped and fire came from his fingertips...

Another surge of pain erupted, and she screamed, desperately trying to suppress whatever this was that was doing this to her. But it was useless, and she found herself in another sort of memory, if that was what this was.

She was in a white room, and in front of her stood herself, and that same man with the fiery fingers. She saw his mouth moving, but no sound came out at first. She strained to hear something, anything that would make this situation more understandable, and then she heard the man's voice...

"Looks like I can get you on you knees." he said as he watched her fall to the floor.

"You should've bled to death by know!" she yelled out, her burnt flesh already regenerating.

"I seared the wound closed. I came close to passing out from the pain." He was completely emotionless as he snapped his fingers, and her body went up in a rush of flames again and again.

Her screams echoed, and still her body regenerated.

"You told me that I couldn't kill you! But I'd like to try and prove you wrong! So let's see; how many times is it gonna take?"

All at once, the flames seemed to intensify with his anger, and they came spark after spark, barely allowing her ay time to regenerate.

With one last bit of energy, she leapt up, and sent a single sharpened nail toward his head, and he ignited a condensed torrent of flames that engulfed her. As they finally died down, she was mere milimeters away from his head, but soon after, the point began to fade into dust, her body following soon after.

The same screams of agony echoed in her head as the image faded away, and she stayed down on the floor, gasping for air, her head still screaming in pain. "Mustang, Hughes, Father... Who are they!" Lust asked furiously.

It was at the first two names that Olivier's head shot up, and she knelt right beside Lust, an unbridled fury in her azul eyes. "Did you say Mustang?" she demanded. "If this is that bastard's fault, I don't care how many court martials I'll have to face. I'll kill him!" she roared, getting up and punching a wall.

Lust finally managed to get control back over herself only to see Olivier lose it. And even though she'd said those names, she still couldn't remember what or who was associated with them. Just trying to think about it on brought back that pain. But the other woman seemed to be quite familiar with them. And while she needed to know why these images, why these scenes caused her such pain, such confusion, she also knew that the answers were going to come at a steep price.


	4. Chapter 4

"I've told you my name, woman. I want yours." Lust said slowly as she managed to walk over to the couch, this time falling into a sitting position with much less elegance than before.

"Humph. My name is Olivier Armstrong, Major General of Fort Briggs." the blonde said, crossing her arms. She was still furious with the idea that Mustang could have something to do with this, but that was second to the fact that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manage to do even a thing in an attempt to control her body which she could clearly see reflected from the mirror outside.

While she was standing at the 'windows' looking out, Lust had time to think over what she was going to have to do. She knew that the blond man, whoever he was, had something to do with her. After all, she had called him father. And that man with the black hair and fiery fingers sent shivers down her spine whenever she pictured him about to snap his gloved hand. Those others, the other six people that she had first seen, somehow she felt connected to them, despite not knowing even their names. And all of this brought pain and confusion to her.

The only thing that she could think to do was offer up some sort of deal with Olivier. She'd never had to deal with switching hosts many times, it had only been twice before, and never had she even thought of what she was thinking of doing at the moment.

And that was another thing. She could remember that in the past, she'd had a kind teenage host body, and then a dark skinned Ishvallan host. But she couldn't remember other basic things... Why was everything so fragmented, so disoriented that she couldn't even find where to start?

However, that was just another reason she was sure that this was the only route to go.

"You know these people. And you want your body back." Lust said slowly, not skipping around her point. "I have to know what I just experienced. That's never once happened before when I have switched hosts. If you have the answers, then I'll make a deal with you, Olivier."

For minutes, it was silent. Then, Olivier turned around to face Lust, the fury controlled for the moment. She couldn't tell if this was some sort of trick, but the pain that Lust seemed to be in minutes before was real enough. And if it wasn't a trick? This could be her chance that she was looking for.

"So you want me to tell you who Mustang is? And in return, I'll regain control of my body."

"Not even close." Lust said, frowning. "I want to know what I was before this point. I have images and what I think are memories, but they're too painful to even think about. I want to know everything I did before this point. If you can do that for me - if you can find out what happened that made me have to transfer into your body as a new host, then I will relinquish partial control to you."

Olivier stood there, slightly shocked. Lust wanted all of those demands met, and still she wouldn't give up control of what wasn't even hers to begin with? The only thing that kept Olivier from using quite a few choice words at that moment was the fact that it was still a chance for her. If she could take control, then she could certainly find some way to maintain it.

And so, the Ice Queen found herself nodding her head. "I'll accept." she said. "However, it's not as easy just going and asking around. If Mustang is the one that you want to know about... Then I suppose that I will head to him. But you must give me control now as well as later in order to get the answers you're looking for."

The mere idea of having to see Mustang again made her stomach sick. And to think that he might be the one who knew something that could _help_ her? Olivier was sensible, but still, having to ask Mustang for any sort of aid...

Clenching her fists, she looked at Lust again. "Do you agree?" she demanded.

"Yes."


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as she words were out of her mouth, Olivier found herself on the carpeted floor again, and then looking out around herself, this time through her own eyes. She tested her movements, clenching her fists and putting on that trademark frown. Everything responded as it should have.

A small, unnoticeable smile, if it could be called that, appeared on her lips, and she began to walk toward the door of the small room they were in.

When the door opened, she found herself in a tunnel that she assumed was underground, and Lust immediately starting giving directions.

"You should be able to go straight forward, and then a couple of rights and a left. From there, you can find the entrance, and you'll be above ground again. And I don't know why exactly, but I wouldn't get too close to that water... There's something about it that isn't quite right..." Lust said, unsure of how she knew all of this, but couldn't even place a couple of faces with names.

As Olivier briskly followed her directions, Lust sat on the couch inside that room, and had all the time in the world to think. It really was odd, not having to do anything. So she tried to sort some of the images she'd seen into an order, but to no avail. It was as if her whole lifetime - or multiple lifetimes - had all been poured into a bucket, shaken up, and then tossed back in without any sort of order to them all. Battles, lovers, friends, enemies, all jumbled up into one.

The only memories that stood out clearly were the scene with that flame-handed man, and another one, in the same room, but what seemed to be days later...

"My my, they sure seemed to have made a mess of things..." said a deep voice that seemed to echo of the walls with a kind tone. A man stepped into view - the older one that she'd first seen when the memories began - and started to pace around the same room in which she'd just watched herself burn.

He seemed to be looking for something, but Lust had to stand by, waiting for something to happen.

Finally, he reached up and removed his eye patch, and a familiar sign on his eye seemed to light up. The man sped up, looking in all directions, barely taking a moment before moving on to another area of the room.

All of the sudden, he stopped, took a couple of steps backward, and bent down. As far as Lust could tell, he was staring at a clean piece of tile. But the man reached down, and as he pinched something, the crimson sparkle caught her eye, and the pain surged again as her surroundings seemed to brighten tenfold.

Olivier had finally made it out, and shielded her eyes from the harsh sunlight while looking around her. There were factory buildings all around, and an alley that seemed to lead toward the streets.

As soon as she emerged again, she knew she was already in Central, however that was possible. The cars drove by angrily, and merchants were every couple of feet on the sidewalks. And above it all loomed Central HQ, where she was supposed to go find that damn flame pervert...

"Humph. You still alive?" she thought experimentally. If this really was happening inside her body mentally as well as physically, then such communication should be possible. At least, that was what Olivier was basing her guess on.

"Yes... Although I can tell you would've wished otherwise." Lust replied, slightly impressed that Olivier had caught on so quickly to the different 'perks' or their new 'relationship'.

There was no reply after that, and Olivier moved briskly, the people around her suddenly realizing that there was a presence that wasn't supposed to be there, and it was one that demanded they move out of its way or get shoved in front of a car.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"I think so!"

"So I'm not going crazy?"

"Yeah, that was the Ice Queen!"

She couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly as she heard their whispers among the idle chatter. After all, you needed to know people to move up in the ranks, but you also needed people to know you. And these people certainly did.


	6. Chapter 6

All of the sudden, Olivier found her feet moving in a different direction than what she had been planning, and seconds after that, she was back in that odd room again, with Lust standing at the window.

"What's the meaning of this!?" Olivier barked, the previous fury back once again.

"I've decided that before I let you begin fulfilling your side of the deal, I need to make sure you look half way decent." Lust said in a matter-of-fact tone before a simple door appeared for Lust to walk through.

At first, it didn't really register with Olivier what the other woman meant, but when she found herself looking at the front of one of the most expensive beauty parlors and fashion stores in Central, it sank in.

The problem was that there wasn't anything she could do but shout insults at Lust in between her forceful objections to everything the other woman had begun to take off clothing racks and shelves.

Eventually, Olivier stopped, and just stood there looking out with a nasty scowl on her face.

"How do you even plan to pay for all of this?" she asked, assuming that Lust could hear her just as she heard Lust before.

"Well, judging by the way that you made those civilians outside quiver, I'm just going to have them put it on a tab."

Her mouth slightly open in shock, Olivier went back to shouting insults. How dare this woman think she could soil her name by having a massive debt piled up on a 'tab'! Besides, she never even went shopping... What would they think when they saw this on her record!

"Well, for starters, they'll think that you might have finally stumbled upon your sense of fashion." Lust said, tapping into the blonde's thoughts for a moment.

"Stay out of my head!" Olivier shouted, realizing shortly afterwards that retort didn't make as much sense as she would've like for it to.

Lust smiled, and made her way to a fitting room with a mountain of clothes.

* * *

As soon as Olivier set foot in Central Headquarters, the whispers began. For the Ice Queen to be away from her precious impenetrable wall was simply unheard of. As it traveled from officer to staff member, from floor to floor, news of her arrival inevitably fell upon one man's ears, who in turn decided to let the situation play out instead warning the poor Colonel that was now most likely in serious danger.

"Falman, it's great to hear from you!" Mustang said with a grin on his face. He had his feet up on his desk, leaning back in a precarious position as he continued to talk. It really was a rare thing for his former team to call him. They all had a bond that was truly unbreakable, but it was certainly being stretched as they each found themselves in completely different parts of the country. Not wanting to pass up a chance to see how he was doing up with that horrid Armstrong, Mustang opened his mouth, only to be politely cut off but Falman clearing his throat.

"Sir, I really have come to learn about what makes the Briggs men so damn legendary, but even so, I was yours first… And, I felt the need to tell you that, well, there was an incident a couple days ago concerning her highness." Falman said slowly, as if worried that even saying that much was somehow wrong.

What he said along with his tone certainly piqued Mustang's interest, and he wanted nothing more than to continue talking. However, he wasn't naïve enough to believe that the line they were talking on was unmonitored, so he was forced to reign in his curiosity for the time being.

He said his goodbye, and was about to put the phone back on the receive when his office door was thrown open and a blonde blur flew at his desk, causing him to wobble back and forth before the chair he was in went flying out from under him.

"Colonel!" he heard Falman shout on the other end of the phone that hadn't been disconnected.

Even though Mustang had a sinking feeling as to who he would see when he looked up, he did so anyway, only to come face to face with the Major General Armstrong.

"O-o-o-Major General!" Mustang stuttered, trying to right himself from his current position..

He got his bearings back, and stood up, then looked at the major general once more before his jaw involuntarily dropped. The Ice Queen was wearing skinny ice blue jeans, a black halter top with a black buckle jacket, and black high-heeled boots that went half way up her calves. Her furious azul eyes popped with silver shadow and thin black liner, and with her blonde hair pulled completely away from her face and held back by a petite silver clip, it all caused quite the shock.

The problem was that in his surprise, Mustang barely avoided a serious concussion that, for all he knew, could have been paired with death as Olivier swung at him. She connected with the wall with a solid thud, and the two were silent and unmoving for what felt like an eternity.

She reached down, grabbed the dangling receiver after a minute, and rudely said, "Mustang will have to get back to you later. Maybe." She slammed down the receiver, and without any warning, Olivier pivoted around, and went over to one of the chairs. Mustang followed soon after, doing his best not to show his terror.

The colonel honestly wasn't sure what he was supposed to do at the moment. He was bad enough when it came to talking, and Major General Armstrong made him even more nervous, and any blunder here could mean the difference between life or death for him.

Luckily, Olivier decided to be the one to speak first, so he had time to either plan an escape, or a short speech as to why he had nothing to do with whatever had brought her down to headquarters and away from her frozen fortress.

"How unpleasant to see you again, Mustang." She said with a sneer on her lips. She was confident, even out of her territory, but even to Mustang, something seemed off.

"And I feel just the same, Major General." Mustang said cautiously as his courage and snarky attitude slowly began to build back up. "So, what brings you here?"

Olivier opened her mouth to respond, only to find herself sucked back into that dark room with Lust glaring at her. The woman's fingers twitched, and she was beyond tense at the moment, in fact, she almost looked as if she was in pain.

"You are not to make it clear that we are now one." She said slowly. "I want to know everything, but I don't want to make it obvious as to who you are trying to get him to talk about, at least not in a place like this… There's a powerful force here, and another force that's also incredibly noticeable. They're painful, as if they're keys that are trying to unlock something for me, but they just don't fit… I want him somewhere that I can talk to him without all of these memories trying to flood in my mind."

Olivier raised an eyebrow, confused at first as to what Lust meant, and then irritated when she thought about how much more trouble – and time – she would have to spend with Mustang in order to get the point across…

Apparently her short conversation was much longer than she thought though, because when she found herself looking at through her own eyes again, Mustang was also looking at her with quite the confused face.

She furrowed her eyebrows, and thought about how she was supposed to go about this. She could simply tell him everything, and then force the information out of him, but there was no guarantee that Lust wouldn't take control in order to stop her, and if that happened, there wasn't a guarantee that she'd get control back either.

Finally, she closed her eyes, and then opened them, meeting Mustang's eyes clearly.

"Lust."

There was no immediate response from the colonel, but his widened eyes were enough of a response for both Lust and Olivier, and the blonde found herself being urged on by Lust.

"I'm afraid I can't say I know what you mean, Major General. That's an emotion, or I suppose that some prefer to call it an impulse, but I'm also afraid that I'm not going to be able to help you in any event like that." He said, trying his hardest not to let the corners of his mouth turn upward.

"Hmph! I must say, I would have thought you'd be well acquainted with her. After all, she's such a pain to get rid of." Olivier countered, wincing slightly as Lust took control for a split second to pinch her thigh.

"Ah, I'm afraid that I don't quite know what you're talking about Major General Armstrong." he said, any intentions of foolishness gone from his head. He grabbed a small writing pad from a table beside him, and scribbled down a small sentence or two on it before handing it to her.

"I do believe that the recommendation I just gave you will help with your looks though." he said, winking with that annoying, playful smile of his back again.

Snarling, Olivier stomped out, showing the note into her pocket and heading for the nearest bench. As soon as she found one, she unfolded the note, and read it to herself.

There's a great fashion guru near the south end of the shopping district, but she's only open from 7:00 to 8:00.

And so it was set. Apparently, she'd spooked Mustang enough that he was going to talk with her about her situation. Though, she did have to wonder why he'd chosen so much later in the day...

* * *

I just realized that I really don't do a lot of author notes or anything... And seeing as I've been getting more followers and favorites for this story, as well as the kind reviews, I feel that I should take a moment and say thank you. It really does feel just amazing to know that people are enjoying this, so hopefully I'll have the next chapter or maybe even chapters up soon. :)

-Tsukiko


	7. Chapter 7

Olivier and Lust had grappled for control several times after leaving Central HQ, but Olivier had pointed out that Lust had no idea where they were supposed to go, so she ultimately ended up in control.

So as time passed, Olivier began to wonder what exactly she was supposed to do when Mustang arrived. At the moment, she was just leaning against a side of the building that Mustang had said to meet at.

"It figures that god-forsaken man can't even show up on time when it was his idea to meet here in the first place." She said, growing more irritable by the minute.

_"Perhaps you ridiculous attempt to hide your misplaced affections for him failed, and you only managed to scare him off."_ Lust said with such a strong tone that the blonde could practically hear her smirking.

Olivier had gotten better at learning to ignore the other woman's thoughts, but she still gritted her teeth as she bit back a sharp retort.

After another ten minutes passed, Olivier slowly straightened herself upright, and began walking away.

_"What do you think you're doing?"_ Lust said, already on her feet and about to take control.

_"I'm leaving. If Mustang can't bother to be here on time, then I won't waste my time waiting for him."_

As if on cue, a quick snap echoed off the walls, and Olivier quickly jumped as she felt her feet beginning to burn. There was no real need to turn around, because there was only one person in the world that was dumb enough to think he could possibly do something like that and live.

"I'm just pleased that you were able to drag your sorry ass out here in such a timely manner, Mustang…"

Lust had also felt the presence, and as soon as she got a good look at Mustang, Olivier found herself back in that dark little room, watching as Lust took control of the situation.

What she hadn't been expecting was for Lust to rush straight at the Colonel, and as if it was natural, Olivier's newly painted nails, which had somehow turned a glossy black, extended into sharpened blades, all aiming for Mustang's neck.

_"What are you doing?!"_ Olivier shouted as she struggled for control. By that point, she knew there was nothing she could truly do, but her pride would only be injured further if she sat back and watched as someone else killed Mustang.

The chaos only worsened when from behind Mustang stepped a Xingese man in a simple vest and dark pants. And just as Lust brought her hand down to swipe across his throat, the man's arms turned a dark gray color, and both Olivier and Lust gasped as her sharpened nails bounced off of the man's armor.

"Yeah, the blonde's got herself a whole mouthful of Lust." He said, turning around to face Mustang.

Despite the pain, Lust went for the man's unguarded back with the other hand, only to have her attack fail like before. As she quickly moved away, her nails retracted and returned to their normal length, but the black polish didn't change back to the icy blue it was originally.

"Look, sis, ya need to cool it over there." He said, swiveling around with an annoyed look on his face.

_"Lust, stop it now!"_ Olivier shouted.

Normally, just as Olivier ignored her, Lust would've ignored the blonde, but this time, the raven haired woman stepped through that illusive door she always conjured up somehow, with an angry, yet pained look on her normally emotionless face. Olivier was about to make a snide remark on how successful her attempt had been when Lust held up a hand for silence.

"This body is yours again for the night. I need to do something before this pain becomes unbearable."

Lust walked over to the bed, nearly collapsed, and within seconds, Olivier found herself in control once again.

* * *

"Well now that's interesting. It looks as if Lust's given up control for a while. In fact, it's kinda like how me and the squinty prince operate." The new man said, eyebrows raised in interest.

"How do you know for sure that she's not faking it like she was at headquarters? After all, she's got all the reasons to be insulting me the way that the Major General had a tendency to. Hell, I'd say she's got more of a reason." Mustang said, still on guard.

"That's easy. Lust and I are the most human of the homunculi, so we're the two that can retain some of our original hosts' souls. At least, we can choose to do so. I happened to like squinty eyes here, but Lust's never been too keen on taking the friendly route. Though I must say, it's pretty damn hot, thinking about the two of-"

"Ahem." Mustang cleared his throat loudly, his eyes begging the other man to keep his mouth shut.

"Fine, fine. Anyway, were her nails this ice blue color when you and she talked this morning?" he asked, grabbing one of Olivier's hands before she had time to object.

"Mustang nodded as he wondered what the major general's nails had to do with any of this.

"Well, Lust has always had a thing with black, especially when it comes to her nails. So as long as your blonde beauty here has her blue nails, she's controlling herself."

Olivier ripped her hand away with a glare while making sure to remember this piece of information.

"Who are you?" she asked, flexing her fingers. She had made a deal with Lust, and this was the perfect opportunity to start following through on it – and maybe figure out a way to rid herself of the raven-haired beauty as well.

"Well babe," the man started, pacing around her in circles several times, looking her up and down. The only reason that she was tolerating it was because he seemed to actually know something. If he turned out to be bluffing, however, Olivier didn't care how strong he was, she'd find a way around that power of his and kick his ass.

"I go by Greed, because I want everything. Money, fame, power, sex. Especially that last one. Hopefully with you. Or Lust. Hell, I could take both of you if that's what you want." He finished with a wink.

Olivier resisted the urge to really kill the man after that comment, and simply glared at Mustang in hopes that what little backbone the man had would crumble as it always did in these situations.

"Uh, I, well, I hadn't planned on Lust actually keeping the Major General alive, so I must apologize for the time spent fending her off." Mustang said, interrupting in hopes that the tension would die down before he got hurt.

"Yeah yeah, you still owe me." Greed said as he turned to slouch against the wall.

Even then, Olivier held back a snide comment for Mustang, as she wanted to keep moving on and learn as much as she could before Lust could recover.

"So you're the same thing as Lust?" Olivier asked as she went to rest against the opposite wall.

All she got was a nod, so she continued.

"How do you do change your body into that armored state so quickly? Is it alchemy?"

"It's my power, the Ultimate Shield, just like Lust's is the Ultimate Spear."

Olivier's eyes widened ever so slightly as his answer, and for once, she set aside her pride and flicked her fingers outward experimentally, only to have her nails grow ever so slightly.

Across from her, Greed didn't even try to contain his chuckling, and said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Are you trying to shoot webs or something?"

"Go to hell." Olivier snarled.

"Fine, I'm already headed there. Screw that, I've been there a couple of times until Pops dragged me back out. But unless you plan on following me down, you'll never learn how to use Lust to your advantage."

He winked at her, and started to walk out toward the street when Olivier called out in an annoyed tone.

"Fine."

* * *

Oh my gosh it's been so long since I managed to get working on this story! I hate to have left any readers hanging for such a long time, and hopefully, I'll be able to type of more of the chapters I've already hand written. So thanks to anyone who's still reading this and putting up with my crazy updating times, and to all those who have followed this story or given me such helpful advice!

-Tsukiko


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